M17x R4, Power issue, Can I fix it?

Hi @Milleniumaire  welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support. 

Back in 2012 the Alienware M17x R4 laptop was available. It is about nine years old and guess that the laptop fans and internal spaces have never been cleaned, so the cooling airflow will have been reduced. Restricting the cooling airflow is not recommended. Although the laptop safety measures automatically kicked in, it abruptly shut down without the fans remaining on to cool the internal components. 

The keyboard shows signs of life, and the ac adapter and the laptop battery both appear to be providing power. However, POST is not testing all the components, or giving diagnostic beeps or lights. Try the following, and share results in the next post. 

(1) Press the D key and power button together, to see if the display will work.
(2) If possible, connect the HDMI cable to external monitor or TV to see if external display is available.
(3) Press the function key and power button together, to run a pre-boot system assessment.
(4) At splash screen, press F2 to enter BIOS.
(5) At splash screen, press F12 to enter Boot Menu. 

Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from another user. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you. 

Hi Crimson, your summary is correct and describes the issue I'm having.

I've tried your suggestions with two different cables; HDMI and VGA, both of which were first tested elsewhere and found to be working, however I can't get a display on an attached monitor.

There is an "Alienware" logo at the bottom of the laptop screen and this lights up, along with the keyboard, when the power switch is pressed, which I guess suggests power is getting to the monitor.

Also, once turned on, I have to press and hold the power key to force a power off.

As I can't get an image anywhere it is difficult to determine if any of your other suggestions are doing anything.

I guess the above doesn't really help much except to identify that whatever the issue is, it is affecting the laptop display.

I removed the back of the laptop, then removed the CPU fan and heatsink and took the following photos.  The rear of the laptop is away from me and I am looking at the CPU  and behind that, next what looks like a capacitor is a grey hard piece at the very rear of the laptop and to the right of the power connection and capacitor.  This looks "crusty" and I suspect this is what has been frazzled.  I can't see if this is part of the motherboard or if the motherboard buts upto it.

I've watched a couple of videos showing how to remove the motherboard, but still can't make out what this grey part is and whether it is replaceable.  If the motherboard has to be replaced, it would cost me around £230 for a refurbished board, which I'm not prepared to pay due to the age of the laptop, so would probably sell it on eBay for parts.

Can anyone help identify what looks like the frazzled grey block?

After further investigation, I think the grey parts, that I thought had been affected are actually part of the casing, possibly a metal/aluminium block, so I think my photos are a red herring.

With the cover off I started the laptop and could see that as well as the keyboard backlight, both fans started up and the mechanical hard drive.  Both fans then stopped, but after around 5 mins the CPU fan started again for a short time.  This suggests the fans are working as normal as is the hard drive.

I am now wondering if the issue is actually the video card or the display.

Any thoughts on how to determine which it might be?

It's not clear what caused the corrosion, but it's extensive enough that a repair is unlikely to succeed (short of a board replacement).

If you smelt burning and heard a sizzle then a board component has failed and the chances of reviving the laptop yourself are slim. It is most likely a MOSFET or capacitor that has failed. I would remove the motherboard and carefully look over the entire board to find the damaged part. A decent laptop repair store may be able to remove the damaged part and solder a new one on. 

It may be more cost effective to replace the board though.

Another thing you could try is removing the GPU and try powering on. If the burnt out part is on the GPU then you should be able to get the machine to power on with it removed from the system, if it hasn't caused another part to fail. 

Thanks Matty, I had considered removing the GPU as I believe there is also an onboard graphics chip (Intel?) that would be used instead?

With my old Acer, which also has a dedicated GPU, it is possible to switch between the two, but I can't see any way to turn off the dedicated GPU on the Dell, so I guess removal is the only way to stop it being used.

Having watched a video showing how to replace the GPU, it is obviously a long process requiring almost everything to be taken apart.  I guess Dell don't really want the GPU to be removed and so didn't design the laptop with this in mind.

I may have a go at doing this or I may just sell the laptop for spares on eBay.  I haven't quite decided yet.

It is actually quite easy to remove the GPU in the M17x R3/R4. Remove the power adapter and then the battery and then remove the two screws holding in the base cover. Push this cover up and off the laptop. This will expose the internal components. Loosen the 3 screws that hold in the GPU fan, remove the connector and then the fan. Loosen the 4 screws that hold the GPU heatsink down. Carefully pry the heatsink off the GPU card with a plastic pry tool. If the heatsink has never been removed before then this can be tricky as it will feel like the heatsink is stuck to the card. Then remove the two screws holding down the GPU. Again you may need to carefully pry the card up as some cards have thermal pads on the underside. The card should now pop up and you just have to pull it out. Replace the fan and test the laptop. 
if you have the M17x R5 which is usually referred to as the 17 R1 then you have to remove the bottom cover before removing the battery. 

Hi @Milleniumaire  please share a link to the video that you watched, thank you. Your user to user discussion is failing to keep in touch with other community users, who want help with their M17x R4. 

There are a number of videos available, but I found this one particularly useful and easy to follow:

Dell AlienWare M17xR4 Graphics Card (GPU) Replacement Video Tutorial 

You say "Your user to user discussion is failing to keep in touch with other community users, who want help with their M17x R4", but I don't know what you mean by "user to user discussion"!  I have posted all my comments to the forum so everything I have said can be read by anyone.  How is this "user to user discussion"?

I've just realised I was getting confused between the Dell Alienware and my Acer Aspire.  I watched a video explaining how to replace the dedicated GPU for my Acer Aspire and that involves taking the laptop apart, including removing the motherboard.

I had also previously watched a video for the Dell Alienware but I now realise that was to replace the motherboard, when I thought that might be the issue.

Having watched the video I provided the link for, which is specifically about removing the GPU, I now realise the Dell Alienware is actually well designed and removing/replacing the GPU is relatively simple.  Replacing the GPU on my Acer Aspire (which also has a failed GPU, but it failed a long time ago) is MUCH more complicated and it is this that my comments should have been directed to i.e. Acer haven't designed the Acer to make it easy to replace the GPU.

Having watched the video and read Matty's comments, I agree it is fairly straight forward and I will give that a try.

I'm assuming there is no way to "turn off" the GPU and to force the onboard graphics to be used  i.e. to avoid having to remove it to stop it being used?  Possibly in the BIOS, but I can't change that as I don't have a working display.

Hi @Milleniumaire 

(1) Looking at the first image, above the green board in the top RH corner, the light grey metal bracket for the lid can be seen. The image of your bracket shows the protective coating replaced by corrosion. 

(2) Looking at the second image, note the position of the two lid hinges, and that the green board is next to one of the lid hinges. 

Hi @Milleniumaire  this is an image of the M17x R4 system board (motherboard). Looking at top, just right of center, there is a cut-out relief that abuts with the metal hinge for the lid. 

Hi @Milleniumaire  this is a video of a M17x R4 that has two HDD, the GPU can be replaced or upgraded.